The continued practice of felling trees in Borno State − and in the whole of the Lake Chad region – is multiplying the spread of deforestation in many of the local government areas, including Dikwa, Ngala and Kala/Balge, and could lead to the desertification of vast tracts of land.
Not only was it destroying the biodiversity in the region, it was also highly dangerous for individuals to go into forests to collect wood because these were often the hideouts of extremists – mostly members of the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), commonly referred to as Boko Haram, and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
On May 19, it was reported that JAS leader Abubakar Shekau had been killed in his hideout in Sambisa Forest in Borno State.
Since the JAS started carrying out large-scale acts of violence in 2009 there had been numerous reports of kidnappings, abductions, rapes and killings of tree fellers, firewood collectors and farmers.
These days most residents were too scared to go more than 20km out of the towns and villages to cut down trees, collect firewood or work on their farms, fearing they might be attacked.
Last year, the Borno State government said it intended to raise and plant 10 million seedlings in two years to address desertification and deforestation in the state.
The environment ministry said it had begun setting up nurseries across the state which experts and facilitators would monitor to manage the seedlings.
Kabiru Wanori, the Borno State environment commissioner, told HumAngle that the first phase of the project would involve planting 1 million trees in northern Borno to control desertification.
But experts said the survivability of the trees was a challenge for the state because of the short rainy season of three to four months, which was not enough to sustain trees to maturity.
In March this year Wanori told citizens that they needed to preserve trees.
Citing some of the effects of deforestation, he noted that the loss of trees and other vegetation could cause climate change, desertification, soil erosion, fewer crops, flooding, increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and a host of problems for indigenous people.
He urged citizens to abstain from cutting down trees indiscriminately either for domestic use of commercial purposes.
Wanori asserted that state governor Babagana Umara Zulum had committed to provide an alternative to firewood and had directed the environment ministry to proffer an alternative to solve the problem and to find lasting solutions to halt the menace of deforestation.
The Emir of Dikwa, Shehu Abba Jato Umar, expressed his concern about the effects of deforestation and desertification, which occurred when vegetation was cut down without any simultaneous replanting.
He said he realised many town and village residents, as well as many internally displaced persons, went into forests to collect firewood, in most cases because it was the only work they could get.
He said he knew many citizens could not return immediately to their homes while insurgents were still committing atrocities, but he hoped they would be able to return and resume normal life soon.
Because of frequent power outages and the lack of jobs, many citizens had turned to collecting firewood to sell. But the high demand for firewood had enticed many more people to go into forests to collect wood and this had resulted in more trees being felled, escalating the already rapid spread of deforestation.
He lauded the efforts of security forces who had restored peace in some villages and towns, making it safer for people to return to their homes.
“I am glad to hear that farmers are feeling a bit safer and that some are returning to their land. And hunters, too, have begun returning to the bushes,” he said.
He encouraged more farmers to return to their land as soon as possible because trees and crops needed to be planted before the rainy season started.
A spokesman for the government in Yobe State said 3 million trees had been planted in an effort to halt or at least slow down deforestation.
